LAWMAKERS BEGINNING TO FEEL HEAT OVER HANDGUN COOLING-OFF PERIOD

TALLAHASSEE -- House and Senate sponsors of statewide gun legislation that would kill South Florida's tough handgun laws appeared headed Tuesday toward a firefight.

The hot issue: whether there needs to be a cooling-off period for handgun purchases.

Sen. Richard Langley, R-Clermont, said he would support provisions to allow as much as a 72-hour waiting period in the bill, which would give the state sole authority over handgun regulation.

"I think we could pass it without the cooling-off period," said Langley, sponsor of the Senate measure (SB 254). "But it's certainly better not to have the veto possibility."

Though stopping short of threatening to veto the bill, Gov. Bob Martinez has said he wants to see a cooling-off period of at least 48 hours.

Cooling-off periods, or delays between the time a buyer purchases a handgun and when he can take it home, now are 72 hours in Dade County, 10 days in Broward County and 14 days in Palm Beach County.

But while Langley was warming up to the idea of a waiting period, the House sponsor Tuesday vowed a fight.

The House version of the bill (HB 251) has been amended to include a 72-hour statewide waiting period. But Rep. Ron Johnson, D-Panama City, will attempt to have the amendment removed when the measure goes to the full House.

"That amendment will not survive the House floor," Johnson said. "But it looks like I'm just a little more adamant against the waiting period than Sen. Langley is."

Langley's bill, without a cooling-off provision, was approved 5-2 by the Senate Judiciary-Criminal Committee on Tuesday. The action came, however, only after Langley pledged to work toward compromise on the measure.

Langley is considering amending his bill to allow counties, through a referendum, to impose a cooling-off period of not more than 72 hours.

Both the House and Senate bills would abolish county and local handgun ordinances, replacing them with new state regulations. The effort is opposed by many lawmakers from South Florida, which has the strictest handgun laws in the state.

Without a cooling-off period, Sen. Ken Jenne, D-Hollywood, said the state bill "sends a message to counties that the Legislature doesn't really care what you do back home, we'll overturn it."

"It also gives the message that a lot more people will be carrying a lot more guns in the state of Florida," he said.

Jenne and Sen. Peter Weinstein, D-Coral Springs, were the only two senators to vote against Langley's bill in Tuesday's committee meeting.

The committee also approved a measure (SB 253) to put responsibility for issuing concealed-weapons permits in the hands of the state. Like a similar House bill (CS/HB 253), the proposal was amended to prohibit carrying concealed weapons on college campuses.

The committee agreed, however, to allow students to carry stun guns for self-protection on campus.

"When you take away (students') ability to protect themselves, (colleges) are just setting themselves up for lawsuits," said Marion Hammer, spokeswoman for Unified Sportsmen of Florida, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association, a supporter of the gun bills.